The Ultimate human resource
Test Bank : Human Resource Management (MGT501): Robert N. Lussier Functions, Applications, and Skill Development 4th Edition, Kindle Edition
, The Ultimate human resource
MGT - 501
his subject/course is designed to teach the basic principles of Human Resource Management (HRM) to diverse
T audience/students, including those who are studying this as a supporting subject for their bachelor degree program. This course
is designed to provide you the foundations of HRM
whether you intend to work in HRM or not, most of these elements will affect you at some point in your career. Either you will be
working with some organizations or having people working for you, in both cases you will be dealing with people.
To be understandable and lively means that we need to communicate you. We start every chapter with learning objectives. The most
important thing you will get out of this course are the basic skills required to succeed in today’s environment which are, you must be able
to communicate, think creatively, plan effectively and deal with people.
1
, Human Resource Management (MGT501) VU
Lesson 1
INTRODUCTION TO HRM
After studying this chapter, students should be able to understand the following:
▪ Describe HRM?
▪ Explain why are we concerned about HRM?
▪ Discuss Road-map of HRM
LESSON OVERVIEW
This chapter introduces the students with the basic concepts of the human resource management (HRM).
During the lecture, we will be discussing the three main things,
i.e. the introduction to HRM, the
importance of HRM, and a brief discussion of the topics that will
Resource
follow today’s lecture.
A basic concept of management states that manager works in
organizations. Organization has three basic components, People,
Purpose, and Structure. HRM is the study of activates regarding
people working in an organization. It is a managerial function that Human Management
tries to match an organization’s needs to the skills and abilities of its
employees. Let’s see what is meant by the three key terms… human,
resource, and management.
HRM
• Human (Homo-sapiens – Social Animal)
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed
• Resources (Human, Physical, Financial, Technical, Informational etc)
• Management (Function of Planning, Organizing, Leading & Controlling of organizational
resources to accomplish goals efficiently and effectively)
Functions of HRM
Basic functions that all managers perform: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. HR management involves the
policies and practices needed to carry out the staffing (or people) function of management.
HRM department regardless of the organization’s size must perform following human resource management functions…
• Staffing (HR planning, recruitment and selection)
• Human resource development
• Compensation and benefits
• Safety and health
• Employee and labor relations
• Records maintaining, etc.
• HR research (providing a HR information base, designing and implementing employee communication system).
• Interrelationship of HR functions.
A. What is human resource management?
As we said that HRM is the management of people working in an organization, it is a subject related to human. For simplicity, we can
say that it is the management of humans or people. HRM is a managerial function that tries to match an organization’s needs to the
skills and abilities of its employees. Human Resource Management is responsible for how people are managed in the organizations. It is
responsible for bringing people in organization helping them perform their work, compensating them for their work and solving
problems that arise.
Growing Importance of HRM
The success of organizations increasingly depends on people-embodied know-how- the knowledge, skill,
2
, The Ultimate human resource
and abilities imbedded in an organization's members. This knowledge base is the foundation of an organization' core competencies
(integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers).
HRM plays important role in creating organizations and helping them survive. Our world is an organizational world. We are
surrounded by organizations and we participate in them as members, employees, customers, and clients. Most of our life is spent in
organization, and they supply the goods and services on which we depend to live. Organizations on the other hand depend on people, and
without people, they would disappear.
Factors Contributing to the Growing Importance of HRM
a. Accommodation to workers' needs
Workers are demanding that organizations accommodate their personal needs by instituting such programs as flexible work schedules,
parental leave, child-care and elder-care assistance, and job sharing. The human resource department plays a central role in establishing
and implementing policies designed to reduce the friction between organizational demands and family responsibilities.
b. Increased complexity of the Manager’s job
Management has become an increasingly complex and demanding job for many reasons, including foreign competition, new technology,
expanding scientific information, and rapid change. Therefore, organizations frequently ask human resource managers for assistance in
making strategic business decisions and in match- ing the distinctive competencies of the firm's human resources to the mission of the
organization. Executives need assistance from the human resource department in matters of recruitment, performance evaluation,
compensation, and discipline.
c. Legislation and litigation
The enactment of state laws has contributed enormously to the proliferation and importance of human resource functions. The record
keeping and reporting requirements of the laws are so extensive that to comply with them, many human resource departments must
work countless hours and often must hire additional staff.
Four areas that have been influenced most by legislation include equal employment, Compensation, safety, and labor relations. An
organization's failure to comply with laws regulating these areas can result in extremely costly back-pay awards, class action suits, and
penalties.
d. Consistency
Human resource policies help to maintain consistency and equity within an organization. Consistency is particularly important in
compensation and promotion decisions. When managers make compensation decisions without consulting the human resource
department the salary structure tends to become very uneven and unfair promotion decisions also may be handled unfairly when the
HR department does not coordinate the decision of individual manger.
e. Expertise
Now a days there exist sophisticated personnel activities that require special expertise. For example, researchers have developed
complex procedures for making employee-selection decisions; statistical formulas that combine interviews, test scores, and
application-blank information have replaced the subjective interviews traditionally used in making selection decisions. Similarly, many
organizations have developed compensation systems with elaborate benefits packages to replace simple hourly pay or piece rate incentive
systems
f. Cost of Human Resource
Human resource activities have become increasingly important because of the high cost of personal problem. The largest single
expense in most organizations is labor cost, which is often considerably higher than the necessary because of such problems as
absenteeism tardiness and discrimination.
3
Test Bank : Human Resource Management (MGT501): Robert N. Lussier Functions, Applications, and Skill Development 4th Edition, Kindle Edition
, The Ultimate human resource
MGT - 501
his subject/course is designed to teach the basic principles of Human Resource Management (HRM) to diverse
T audience/students, including those who are studying this as a supporting subject for their bachelor degree program. This course
is designed to provide you the foundations of HRM
whether you intend to work in HRM or not, most of these elements will affect you at some point in your career. Either you will be
working with some organizations or having people working for you, in both cases you will be dealing with people.
To be understandable and lively means that we need to communicate you. We start every chapter with learning objectives. The most
important thing you will get out of this course are the basic skills required to succeed in today’s environment which are, you must be able
to communicate, think creatively, plan effectively and deal with people.
1
, Human Resource Management (MGT501) VU
Lesson 1
INTRODUCTION TO HRM
After studying this chapter, students should be able to understand the following:
▪ Describe HRM?
▪ Explain why are we concerned about HRM?
▪ Discuss Road-map of HRM
LESSON OVERVIEW
This chapter introduces the students with the basic concepts of the human resource management (HRM).
During the lecture, we will be discussing the three main things,
i.e. the introduction to HRM, the
importance of HRM, and a brief discussion of the topics that will
Resource
follow today’s lecture.
A basic concept of management states that manager works in
organizations. Organization has three basic components, People,
Purpose, and Structure. HRM is the study of activates regarding
people working in an organization. It is a managerial function that Human Management
tries to match an organization’s needs to the skills and abilities of its
employees. Let’s see what is meant by the three key terms… human,
resource, and management.
HRM
• Human (Homo-sapiens – Social Animal)
Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed
• Resources (Human, Physical, Financial, Technical, Informational etc)
• Management (Function of Planning, Organizing, Leading & Controlling of organizational
resources to accomplish goals efficiently and effectively)
Functions of HRM
Basic functions that all managers perform: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. HR management involves the
policies and practices needed to carry out the staffing (or people) function of management.
HRM department regardless of the organization’s size must perform following human resource management functions…
• Staffing (HR planning, recruitment and selection)
• Human resource development
• Compensation and benefits
• Safety and health
• Employee and labor relations
• Records maintaining, etc.
• HR research (providing a HR information base, designing and implementing employee communication system).
• Interrelationship of HR functions.
A. What is human resource management?
As we said that HRM is the management of people working in an organization, it is a subject related to human. For simplicity, we can
say that it is the management of humans or people. HRM is a managerial function that tries to match an organization’s needs to the
skills and abilities of its employees. Human Resource Management is responsible for how people are managed in the organizations. It is
responsible for bringing people in organization helping them perform their work, compensating them for their work and solving
problems that arise.
Growing Importance of HRM
The success of organizations increasingly depends on people-embodied know-how- the knowledge, skill,
2
, The Ultimate human resource
and abilities imbedded in an organization's members. This knowledge base is the foundation of an organization' core competencies
(integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers).
HRM plays important role in creating organizations and helping them survive. Our world is an organizational world. We are
surrounded by organizations and we participate in them as members, employees, customers, and clients. Most of our life is spent in
organization, and they supply the goods and services on which we depend to live. Organizations on the other hand depend on people, and
without people, they would disappear.
Factors Contributing to the Growing Importance of HRM
a. Accommodation to workers' needs
Workers are demanding that organizations accommodate their personal needs by instituting such programs as flexible work schedules,
parental leave, child-care and elder-care assistance, and job sharing. The human resource department plays a central role in establishing
and implementing policies designed to reduce the friction between organizational demands and family responsibilities.
b. Increased complexity of the Manager’s job
Management has become an increasingly complex and demanding job for many reasons, including foreign competition, new technology,
expanding scientific information, and rapid change. Therefore, organizations frequently ask human resource managers for assistance in
making strategic business decisions and in match- ing the distinctive competencies of the firm's human resources to the mission of the
organization. Executives need assistance from the human resource department in matters of recruitment, performance evaluation,
compensation, and discipline.
c. Legislation and litigation
The enactment of state laws has contributed enormously to the proliferation and importance of human resource functions. The record
keeping and reporting requirements of the laws are so extensive that to comply with them, many human resource departments must
work countless hours and often must hire additional staff.
Four areas that have been influenced most by legislation include equal employment, Compensation, safety, and labor relations. An
organization's failure to comply with laws regulating these areas can result in extremely costly back-pay awards, class action suits, and
penalties.
d. Consistency
Human resource policies help to maintain consistency and equity within an organization. Consistency is particularly important in
compensation and promotion decisions. When managers make compensation decisions without consulting the human resource
department the salary structure tends to become very uneven and unfair promotion decisions also may be handled unfairly when the
HR department does not coordinate the decision of individual manger.
e. Expertise
Now a days there exist sophisticated personnel activities that require special expertise. For example, researchers have developed
complex procedures for making employee-selection decisions; statistical formulas that combine interviews, test scores, and
application-blank information have replaced the subjective interviews traditionally used in making selection decisions. Similarly, many
organizations have developed compensation systems with elaborate benefits packages to replace simple hourly pay or piece rate incentive
systems
f. Cost of Human Resource
Human resource activities have become increasingly important because of the high cost of personal problem. The largest single
expense in most organizations is labor cost, which is often considerably higher than the necessary because of such problems as
absenteeism tardiness and discrimination.
3
